


Une belle colère

by trashcatontherooftop



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is a sub he just doesn't know it yet, Adrinette, Background DJWifi, Beta-read, Crack, F/M, Gen, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Re-published because the first draft had weird vibes, Sewing, adrienette - Freeform, angrynette, pre-reveal pre-relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23017021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashcatontherooftop/pseuds/trashcatontherooftop
Summary: Marinette gets mad at Adrien for the first time ever and Adrien kinda digs it in spite of himself.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 39
Kudos: 469





	Une belle colère

**Author's Note:**

> If this fic looks familiar, it's because I already published it once, and then @Boogum (Bother Kupo on Tumblr) pointed out that their interaction felt more like Gabe & Adrien than Marinette & Adrien. After that I couldn't unsee it and it made me uncomfortable, so I deleted it with the intention of rewriting it. Writing an interaction where one of the characters gets angry and the other *likes* it, without making it weird, is really hard apparently. Luckily for me, Boogum agreed to beta-read it (THANK YOU BOOGUM ILY). I like it MUCH better now. I hope you'll enjoy this version too!

It started with the fabric scissors.

"Dude, put those down! _Now!_ _Quick!_ "

Adrien paused in the middle of cutting photos out of an old magazine. "What?"

"You can't use those scissors, dude! Marinette will  _ murder _ you!"

The idea of Marinette hurting someone intentionally was so odd that Adrien burst out laughing.

"What are you-?"

"Oh my gods. Adrien, listen to Nino and put the scissors down like a good boy."

Alya had crawled over to see what the fuss was about and was now speaking with a low urgency that wiped the grin off Adrien's face. Alya? Scared?  _ What the hell? _

He closed the scissors and slowly handed them to her.

"Okay, now where did you find them?" she asked.

"Um, on her desk, I think?"

"You  _ think? _ "

"I'm pretty sure?"

"Adrien,” Nino hissed desperately, “she's going to notice if we put them back in a different spot to where she left them!"

Adrien glanced from Alya and Nino's anguished faces to the pile of clutter that was Marinette's desk.

"But – how – ?"

"She has a system, okay?” Alya stood and hovered over the mess, and Adrien and Nino followed suit. “Now just tell me where you think they were! Quick, before she comes back!"

"Before who comes back?"

The three of them jumped, banging into the desk and each other as they spun to face the trap door. Marinette stood there, holding a tray of snacks and drinks. The scissors clattered to the floor, and all four teens stared at them like they might explode.

"...Are those my fabric scissors?"

Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but there was a note of iron in it that Adrien had never heard from Marinette, not even when she'd been talking to Chloe or Lila. Something hot. Something  _ powerful _ .

His breath caught in his throat, and he swallowed hard.

Marinette slowly placed the tray to one side and clenched her fists. Her eyes swept over the three of them, flashing like a roiling storm.

“Those are  _ my fabric scissors! _ ” she snapped.

"Adrien did it!" Nino shouted.

Adrien turned and gaped at his best friend, the bro he'd thought would never betray him. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"It's true! Adrien did it!"

"Alya!" he finally managed in a strangled voice.

"It's not his fault du- Marinette! He didn't know!"

"Yeah, Marinette, come on! You can't be mad at  _ Adrien! _ "

Alya grabbed Adrien's face and smooshed his cheeks together, pushing him forward slightly as though presenting Marinette with a peace offering. Adrien was too shocked to fight back. He vaguely wondered why on earth Alya thought this would do any good.

He glanced back at Marinette, who was glowering at  _ him  _ now, looking... conflicted? No, that was too mild a term. Emotions waged bloody war on her face – rage, panic, suspicion, betrayal, and... something he couldn't identify.

She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and blew it slowly out before opening them again, capturing Adrien in her electric blue gaze. She spoke, her voice as quiet as it was fierce.

"Adrien. Did you use my fabric scissors to cut paper?"

He couldn't have denied it if he'd wanted to.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know, I swear!" he blurted, his words distorted by Alya's hands still smooshing his face.

The silence that followed drew taut, like a string set to snap. 

Marinette exploded.

“ _ Why didn’t you guys tell him?! _ ” she yelled, making everyone jump. “You  _ knew  _ about this! You should have  _ told him! _ ”

“We didn’t notice until it was too late!” Nino protested weakly, but his defence went ignored.

“And you!” She pointed an accusing finger at Adrien. “ _ You work in the fashion industry! _ How the hell could you  _ not know _ about fabric scissors?!”

In reality, Adrien  _ did  _ know about fabric scissors, and had Marinette’s been labelled, he wouldn’t have dared to touch them.

He wasn’t about to point that out, though.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” he tried to babble through the vice of Alya’s hands. “I’ll buy you another pair, I swear!” 

"See, he’ll buy you a new pair!” Alya said, her voice higher than usual. “Heck, let’s  _ each  _ buy you a pair! Three new pairs of fabric scissors!" Adrien could see Nino nodding frantically out of the corner of his eye, but the movement barely registered because Marinette’s eyes were boring into him like blue laser beams. He'd only seen a gaze that intense in one other person. It struck him suddenly that Ladybug and Marinette had eyes the  _ exact same colour _ .

Adrien's heart skipped several beats, and he had no idea if it was the adrenaline or something else. He could’ve sworn Marinette was growling.

Finally –  _ finally _ – she released him from her gaze, closing her eyes once more in order to take a deep breath in and out. When she opened them again, the tension was completely gone. If anything, she looked slightly deflated.

She climbed the rest of the way into her bedroom. Adrien dared to breathe for what felt like the first time in minutes – until she picked up the scissors.

"The ones with the red handles are my fabric scissors," she grumbled, looking down at the closed blades in her hand. "Nobody touches them. Ever. Got it?"

She pinned him to the spot with those eyes again, and although most of the heat in them had evaporated, all he could do was nod.

She motioned for them to get out of the way so she could put the scissors back on her desk, and the three of them scrambled to obey her. Adrien grabbed his magazine cuttings from the floor and pulled them out of her path, gawking at Marinette with unabashed amazement. Marinette carefully put the scissors back in their spot amongst the clutter, and leaned on the desk for a few seconds before turning back to face them. She was pouting.

It was  _ cute _ .

(Adrien was used to thinking that Marinette was cute. This was familiar territory. He wasn’t used to the sudden ripple of heat that accompanied that thought, however.)

"I left something downstairs,” she muttered. “I'll be back in a second." 

They waited until she'd gone downstairs, shutting the trap door behind her. Then Alya and Nino let out long sighs of relief.

"That could've gone a lot worse," Nino observed.

Adrien pushed aside the strange new sensations Marinette’s fury had awoken in his belly and scowled at his traitorous friends. "Worse? _ ”  _ he exclaimed. “I've never seen Marinette that mad!"

"Oh, my sweet sunshine child," Alya said, patting his shoulder. "You ain't seen  _ nothing _ ."

"So you guys threw me under the bus even knowing that it could be  _ worse than that?! _ "

_ Why do I want to see what “worse” looks like? _

Nino let out a nervous laugh, looking anywhere but at Adrien.

"Adrien," said Alya, in that big-sister voice she sometimes used. "We threw you under the bus because  _ otherwise _ it would have been worse. We knew Marinette wouldn't get too mad at  _ you _ ."

Adrien frowned, new feelings fading. "Not that I'm complaining, but... why not?"

Alya and Nino exchanged a glance. Alya's lips curled up in a grin; Nino's brow puckered in response, and he gave a tiny shake of his head. Alya pouted. Nino raised an eyebrow. Alya rolled her eyes and turned back to Adrien, who had been watching their silent exchange with fascination.

"You'd probably be better off asking her that question," Alya told him. Her grin returned. "In fact, you should definitely ask her that as soon as she comes back."

Adrien wasn't the best at reading facial expressions, but he was beginning to recognize when Alya was trying to get someone into mild-but-entertaining trouble.

"No thanks," he said. "No offense, Alya, but after both of you betraying me like that, I kinda don't trust you anymore."

She threw her arms around his neck dramatically, almost strangling him.

"Aww come on Adrien! You would have owned up anyway!"

" _ Gnnn- _ get  _ off _ , you're heavy!"

"Say you forgive me!"

"Us," Nino piped up.

"Say you forgive us!"

" _ Neveeerrr- _ " Adrien tried to pry Alya away from him but her grip was too strong. "Nino, help!"

"Just say you forgive us, dude," said Nino, grabbing a cookie from the tray Marinette had brought up and sitting back to watch them wrestle.

Adrien pointed an accusing finger at him from under Alya's arms. "Betrayed  _ twice _ by my own best bro!"

Marinette chose that moment to open the trap door again. Everyone froze as she stared at them, but she looked more surprised than upset. Adrien relaxed somewhat, even as he continued to struggle against Alya's vice-like grip.

"What's...?"

"Marinette, help!" Adrien yelped.

"Don't help him. I'm giving him the sibling experience!"

" _ I did not ask for this! _ "

Marinette let out a reluctant giggle, and Adrien smiled in echo.

"Maybe you can give him the sibling experience once we've finished the project," she said. "Speaking of which..."

She held out two pairs of scissors, one for Nino and one for Adrien. Alya finally let Adrien push her away so he could take them, scuttling back to her laptop across the room.

He offered to help Marinette pick up several magazines from her desk. No longer caught in the beam of her ire, he was beginning to wonder if he'd imagined it. Or exaggerated it, rather. He knew he hadn't imagined upsetting her.

Adrien frowned. He’d upset Marinette, and had the audacity to…  _ like  _ it? That wasn’t the word. He’d been intrigued by it. Almost wanted it to continue. 

Guilt settled like dirt in his gut. Now that he thought about it, he really should have known to ask about the scissors. He’d found them right next to the sewing machine, on top of a pile of fabric, and Marinette was right - as the son of a fashion designer, it should have been obvious to him.

The idea that his thoughtlessness had upset one of his closest friends rang like a false note in the back of his mind.

"Marinette, I'm really sorry about..." He trailed off as Nino and Alya both started waving their arms in silent panic, mouthing "NO", eyes wide.

Marinette glanced at them, frowning, and the couple were suddenly very concentrated on their work. She turned back to Adrien, handing him half the magazines. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

Her smile was sweet, and her eyes showed none of the ferocity that had pinned him to the spot and sucked the breath out of him.

"Okay," he said. And, because some recklessly curious part of him obviously had a death wish, he dared to ask the question he already knew the answer to: "Um, why can't we use fabric scissors on paper?"

Marinette had been about to sit down on the floor, but she stopped in her tracks, her gaze snapping back to glare at him incredulously. Adrien's heartbeat accelerated. There it was! He hadn't imagined it at all! The electricity in her eyes was back, tingling over his skin, leaving him equal parts excited and nervous. He couldn’t move, couldn’t look away. She was mesmerizing.

_ What the hell is wrong with me? Do I  _ want  _ to die? _

It was impossible to ignore the part of his brain screaming that yes, if he had to die, let it be like this.

Eventually, she said: "Fabric scissors need to be kept very sharp in order to cut properly. Paper is abrasive. It blunts the scissors." Her voice was impressively even.

Adrien swallowed, and nodded. Marinette turned away. He let out the breath he'd been holding. An overwhelming mishmash of feelings submerged him: relief that she hadn’t yelled this time, mingled with a regret that her eyes were no longer looking at him like that. Like  _ her _ .

He couldn’t deny the spark of excitement, either.

"I thought you'd know that, being the son of a fashion designer," she added almost casually, moving the tray of food to the center of the room with her foot.

"M-my dad doesn't do much sewing any more," Adrien invented, hoping she wouldn’t hear the lie in his too-high voice.

To his relief, she only nodded before folding her legs beneath her and picking up a magazine. Adrien followed suit, sitting almost close enough to touch her before remembering that Marinette was just a friend,  _ not  _ his superhero partner, and settling a respectable distance away. She wasn't the love of his life. She  _ wasn't _ .

Marinette seemed ready to get back to work. Alya and Nino followed her lead with enthusiasm, although Marinette was somewhat subdued now. (Alya later told him that she felt embarrassed by her outburst.) No more mention was made of the fabric scissors.

Adrien tried to concentrate, he really did. He obediently cut out the photos Marinette and Alya told him to, but inside he was a mess of roiling, fluttery new feelings that rendered him functionally useless for the rest of the day. He spent most of the afternoon glancing at Marinette when he thought she wouldn't notice, searching her eyes for any hint of that force, that  _ glow _ – the one that reminded him of his lady facing off an akuma. He wondered, not for the first time, if Ladybug had somehow managed to trick him that day with Kwamibuster. He wondered if Marinette and Ladybug were related. He wondered if it was just the fabric scissors, or if there were other ways he might get to see that fierce glint return to her eyes – and then he wondered what the hell he was thinking. He didn't want to make Marinette angry  _ again! _

(He did, he did, oh god he did.)

Adrien shook his head, trying to clear it. What was wrong with him today? How could he  _ want  _ to upset Marinette? She was his friend, one of the very first friends he'd made on his own. Marinette was kind, thoughtful, honest, sweet, adorably shy and sensitive – 

_Okay, cowboy, maybe stop gushing about your_ _Very Good Friend_.

Nonetheless, he  _ hated  _ the idea of upsetting her. So why couldn't he get her eyes – the fierceness in them, like she could flatten him with the mere force of her gaze – out of his head?

It didn't matter, he decided. Marinette almost never got angry, and when she did, it was usually at Lila or Chloe. Even then, it was mostly the sort of anger he wanted to defend and support, rather than cower before. More righteously cute than breathtaking.

_ Breathtaking. Strange word choice, kid, _ said the voice in his mind that sounded exactly like Plagg.

_ Shut up, _ he told it. _ I meant in the literal sense because I was nervous and forgot to breathe and -  _

_ It doesn't matter,  _ his logic interrupted before he could lose it completely. _ I'll probably never see her like that again. _

It was not a happy thought. He spent the rest of the afternoon desperately smothering the reckless, amoral urge to pick up the fabric scissors again, just to see what happened.


End file.
